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The Ultimate Family Gamer Holiday Gift Guide (2012)

These days, parents often play just as many games as their kids—sometimes more—but it’s always nice when gamers of all ages can congregate and play together.

Sure, it’s fun to play Dark Souls and have my two-year-old shout “You died!” when I get killed, but there are plenty of games and gadgets out there for the whole family, and some of them are actually pretty good, even for two-year-olds.

In this last minute shopper Holiday Gift Guide entry, we’ll take a look at some games and gadgets for you and your kids. I’m leaving out Kinect games because Kinect games have simply not been a very big hit in my household so far.

And now, in no particular order…the Ultimate Family Gamer Holiday Gift Guide (2012.)

1. Nintendo Wii U

Nintendo’s latest console brings the video game company into the HD generation at long last. It also takes a page from its little siblings, the handheld DS/3DS systems, which use two screens to create a new gaming experience. With the Wii U, however, the second screen is in the innovative gamepad controller, meaning that a whole new era of asymmetrical gameplay, party games, and family gaming is at our fingertip. Games like Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros. U are already utilizing the gamepad in fun and unique ways.

The Wii U comes in two shapes and colors. The standard White version has less storage and accessories, and the Black Deluxe version comes with a bigger hard drive and the Nintendo Land game. I think the Deluxe is worth the price premium, though I wish it came with a Wiimote as well. Fortunately, most of your Wii accessories and games will work flawlessly on the Wii U as well, making the upgrade less daunting.

2. Lego: Lord of the Rings (Xbox 360)

It may not be the best LEGO video game ever made, but much of the series’ well-loved humor and puzzle-platforming is back in fighting fashion in LEGO: Lord of the Rings from developer TT Games.

While the voice-acting taken from the Peter Jackson films is not as endearing as other LEGO entries, fans of the films will still get a kick out of the humor and LEGO gamers will enjoy the co-op gameplay with its sword-fighting, magic, and puzzling.

There’s a pretty good Vita version as well for those of you with Sony’s latest handheld system. And of course a whole line of LEGO Lord of the Rings toys which are pretty awesome. I was pretty serious about my medieval LEGO toys as a kid, and a Lord of the Rings set would have been a dream come true. Kids don’t know how good they have it these days….

3. Mouse Guard Role-Playing Game

If you’re sick of all these video games corrupting the mind’s of your children or you’d just like to get them engaged in somewhat more imaginative play, D&D style role-playing games are a good place to start.

Tabletop or pen-and-paper games are a great blend of gaming, imagination, and literature and help kids learn about making choices, storytelling, and working together in uncertain settings.

Mouse Guard is built on Luke Crane’s Burning Wheel rule set, an indie tabletop game that puts a major influence on the role of each character, and on their beliefs and motivations.

Set in a medieval world of brave mice and fearsome predators, the game (which is based on David Peterson’s graphic novels) is perfect for kids and their parents.

Like the graphic novels, the artwork is simply gorgeous, making the books themselves fun to experience all on their own.

The game reminds me of reading the Redwall novels as a kid and for fans of those stories it makes the perfect gift—if you can find a copy.

4. Skylanders Giants Game and Toys (Multi-Platform)

I’ve been on a Skylanders kick lately, possibly because I never got caught up in the original Skylanders craze last year.

Skylanders Giants is an impressive game, though it’s at its best on the new Nintendo Wii U. The toys themselves are also impressive, and especially the new giant action figures which are twice the size of the normal toys.

Basically Skylanders is an action role-playing game for kids that’s fun for parents as well. I’m annoyed by the lack of a jump feature, but it certainly makes the game more accessible to younger kids.

Just as importantly, it’s a game with lots of charm and a really great sense of humor. It’s fun to customize your characters and to collect the toys, though be warned: this can be an expensive endeavor.

With eight different Elements comprising the full spectrum of characters, you’ll need to buy at a minimum five more toys if you get the Starter Pack (which comes with the game, the Portal of Power, and three figures) to experience every secret the game has to offer.

5. Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure (3DS)

This game came out last year, but it’s still quite possibly the best Skylanders game to date. I say this because of two simple things: the ability to jump and the ability to sprint for all the Skylanders.

Spyro’s Adventure on the 3DS isn’t as long as the other games, but it’s tons of fun. The platforming can be tricky at times, but after playing this version of the game I can’t help but think that it’s the way the games really should be. Developer Vicarious Visions really makes the Skylander experience, which is often slow-paced on home consoles, a thrilling ride filled with leaps, double-jumps, and crazy falls.

If you like playing games in 3D, it’s even better though I find myself a bit disoriented by 3D at times.

The game comes with Dark Spyro, Ignitor, and Stealth Elf (the last two are two of my favorite Skylanders) and you can have up to two characters “locked in” to your game at a time so that you can take them on the road and leave the toys and the Portal behind. Daily Element-specific challenges keep things fresh, and the whole game is really what I hope we see in the next main Skylanders release: a real platformer with RPG elements.

Note, the Skylanders Giants 3DS release has been plagued by negative reviews, though I haven’t tried it yet. I recommend going with last year’s model…

6. Nintendo 3DS XL

Speaking of the 3DS, Nintendo came out with a new model this year. The 3DS XL is bigger—its top screen is 4.88 inches, a 38% leap above the original 3DS’s 3.53 inches—and boasts other design refinements like a smudge-resistant matte shell and roomier controls.

I’m not a huge fan of the 3D function, to be honest—moving too much to either side of the screen skews the view up pretty badly—but you can use the slider to turn it down or turn off 3D altogether, and the catalog of games available is impressive, with a host of first-party Nintendo titles and plenty of third-party titles as well.

It’s those first-party titles like Mario and Zelda that make this a good handheld system for family gamers, beating out Sony’s higher-definition PS Vita with its much slimmer pickings in terms of games, and especially family-oriented games.

8. New Super Mario Bros. U (Wii U)

If you’re like me, you probably have a soft spot for anything that taps into your sense of nostalgia. If so, New Super Mario Bros. U is a game for you—that is, if you played Super Mario World back on the Super Nintendo.

I spent a lot of time with that game, and playing New Super Mario Bros. U feels sort of like going back in time. The big difference is that this new game has been built in high-definition, making it the first HD Mario game.

The graphics look great, and the gameplay is pure Mario goodness all over again. It’s a great introductory Mario game for kids who missed out on the many great Mario titles of Christmas Past.

10. Wonderbook: Harry Potter Book of Spells (PS3)

I’m of two minds about Book of Spells, Sony’s first “Wonderbook” title. The Wonderbook is a book that the Sony Move system can “see” and transport on to your television screen. In Book of Spells it becomes a spell book from the Harry Potter universe.

It’s not so much a game as it is an interactive fairytale. You “learn” spells by saying the proper incantation and then waving your wand in the proper hand gesture, levitating objects or spraying water or light from the tip of the wand.

It might wear thin quickly for grown-ups, but for kids it’s magical. My daughter was in awe when she first played, a little uncertain if what she was seeing was only taking place in the TV or if it was also going on around her. For kids who are Harry Potter fans (or fanatics) this is a good gift—but remember, it’s not so much a game as it is an interactive book you read and listen to on your television screen.

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